Boswellia serrata, Roxb.

(Syn. B. thurifera, B.glabra)

Family: Burseraceae

General :

Common on dry hills throughout the state, preferring the hottest and driest exposures. Recommended for plantations in shallow ferruginous soils. Identified by yellow papery bark exfoliating in irregular flakes. It is a good drought resistant species.

Flowering :

Small white flowers appear in January to March.

Fruiting :

Fruits ripen in May to June.

Morphology of the Fruit/Seed :

The drupe is 1.3 cms long, swollen and trigonous with three valves, and 3 heart shaped, 1-seeded pyrenes which are winged along the margins.

Seed Collection and Storage :

The ripe fruits are collected off the trees in May. They should be sown immediately after collection. A very high degree of post-fertilization sterility does occur and lot of aborted seeds are produced. Such sterile pyrenes can be separated before sowing by immersion in water where they float on the surface.

Seed Biology :

Pretreatment:

Overnight treatment in mild hot water for 24 hours.

Nursery Technique :

Polythene bags raised seedlings of 10 to 12 weeks are planted out in the field. It does not tolerate transplanting since the root system of this species is very delicate. It grows very good from large cuttings (70-80%) success. Dimension of the cutting is 7.5 to 10 cms India . and about 1.8 mt long. They are buried in the ground to a depth of 0.45 to 0.6 mt. Two months before the rains ( i.e.,April-May). The soil should be well pressed around the cutting.